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This report gives a general description of water vapour which is a transparent and odourless
gas, how this gas varies geographically outdoors in Sweden as well as the diurnal and annual
variation. Humidity data from 121 automatic weather stations that were operational during the
period 1996-2012 was used. The measurements were taken at 1.5 to 2 meters above the ground
level. Different measuring instruments for humidity are presented and also different humidity
measurements like dew point, wet bulb, absolute humidity, mixing ratio, enthalpy etc.
The absolute humidity which is the mass of water vapour in a cubic meter of air is highest in
summer and lowest during the coldest days in winter. The highest values are measured along
the coasts of southern Sweden and the value decreases northwards and with distance from the
coast. Diurnal variation of the absolute humidity is in average relatively small.
In addition, monthly mean water vapour is studied for various months since 1951. Digitized
humidity data have not been available before in 1951. Ten stations are used, from Bredåkra in
the south of Sweden to Arjeplog in the north, for calculating monthly averages. The months
May, August and November have been chosen together with the annual value. The absolute
humidity increased during the three months and also the annual value. For the annual value and
for May and August the increase is statistically significant not for November.
There is no statistically significant change of the average relative humidity during the period
1951-2012 for the average of ten selected stations for the months of May, August or November.
If the temperature drops to the dew point the air becomes saturated with water vapour and the
relative humidity becomes 100 %. If the temperature drops further the water vapour
condensates to water droplets and fog, dew or frost is formed. The highest dew point reported
in Sweden is 23.8 °C at Fårö north of the island Gotland on 29 July 1994 and in Hällum in
Västergötland on 30 June 1997. At the latter occasion the temperature was 28.4 °C and the
relative humidity 76%.
The relative humidity is usually given in percentage (%) that is a measure of how much water
vapour the air contains compared to how much water vapour that the air can contain as a
maximum at the ambient temperature. The amount of water vapour that can occur as gas form
increases with temperature. Low relative humidity is common during spring and early summer,
while high relative humidity occurs during nights and during winter. In May, when the sea
water is cool, the relative humidity is higher along the Swedish coast compared to inland. In
November, when the sea water is warmer than the land, there is a reverse relationship; the
relative humidity is lower on the coast compared to inland. In Helsingborg, the relative humidity is in average 50-60% when the temperature is +25 °C, but
when the temperature is between 0 and +10 °C the humidity is much higher, 90 to 100 %.

This report contains two parts which are self standing reports and a contribution to the HELCOM project EUTRO-OPER. The work has been funded and commissioned by SwAM (Swedish agency for marine and water management) 2014-2015.

Eutrophication status is assessed nationally in coastal waters within the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and in open sea areas within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Both WFD and MSFD consider eutrophication but with different approaches and it is therefore a need for harmonisation in the assessment process. The Excel based tool HEAT (HELCOM Eutrophication Assessment Tool) has been used in previous assessments in the HELCOM region. There are two versions of the tool; HEAT 1.0 and HEAT 3.0, the first is based on the WFD methodology and the second is based on the MSFD methodology. The main difference between HEAT 1.0 and HEAT 3.0 is how the indicators are grouped. Here we assess the eutrophication status in coastal waters by applying HEAT and compare the results with the national WFD assessments. The present test includes data on 33 selected coastal water bodies in five countries: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Sweden. Data on reference condition, acceptable deviation, status and class boundaries of all indicators used in WFD for reporting ecological status (biological and physical-chemical) have been provided for each tested water body. The data has been inserted in the HEAT 1.0 and HEAT 3.0 tools and been compared with the national WFD assessments. Both HEAT versions gave lower status in more than 50 % of the cases. For some tests the status changed to sub-GES from GES when HEAT is applied. The good/moderate boundary is the same in both HEAT and the WFD while the lower class boundaries in general are stricter in HEAT, which explains the lower status. In national WFD assessments expert judgment is used when there is little, no or very uncertain in situ data. The status in HEAT is given by the one-out-all-out principle but it is still possible to include expert judgment through the weighting factors.

Development of an oxygen consumption indicator

It was investigated if the oxygen consumption can be used as an oxygen indicator for the Baltic Sea. The method is based on the idea of calculating the oxygen consumption in a stabile layer below the productive zone during summer and relating this to nutrient concentrations. With more nutrients available there is an increased biological production. By estimating how much oxygen is needed to mineralise the biological material it may be possible to link the oxygen consumption to eutrophication.

The oxygen consumption was calculated for the BY15-Gotland Deep in the Eastern Gotland Basin. We identified a stabile layer between 30 and 50 m and a large change in both oxygen and nutrients from June to August. However, the oxygen consumption had a very high inter-annual variation and there were no significant correlation with the winter mean of nutrient concentrations. It was not possible to calculate the diffusion between the layers because of too sparse measurements at the stratification which limits the method. The calculation of the diffusion is however possible to improve with a model. Further on, the depth of the stabile layer is varying between areas and also between years. We realised that the method has too many restrictions to be a functional indicator. A functional indicator shall not be dependent on heavy modelling or demand too much on expert judgement. We also investigated if a possible candidate to use as a more simple oxygen consumption indicator could be the use of oxygen saturation at a specific depth. If we assume that the temperature has not changed much since the establishment of stratification we may expect that changes in oxygen saturation observed in August at this depth would be caused by the biological oxygen consumption occurring during late spring and summer. The correlation with winter mean nutrients slightly improved in this case.

This report contains two parts which are self standing reports and a contribution to the HELCOM project EUTRO-OPER. The work has been funded and commissioned by SwAM (Swedish agency for marine and water management) 2014-2015.

Eutrophication status is assessed nationally in coastal waters within the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and in open sea areas within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Both WFD and MSFD consider eutrophication but with different approaches and it is therefore a need for harmonisation in the assessment process. The Excel based tool HEAT (HELCOM Eutrophication Assessment Tool) has been used in previous assessments in the HELCOM region. There are two versions of the tool; HEAT 1.0 and HEAT 3.0, the first is based on the WFD methodology and the second is based on the MSFD methodology. The main difference between HEAT 1.0 and HEAT 3.0 is how the indicators are grouped. Here we assess the eutrophication status in coastal waters by applying HEAT and compare the results with the national WFD assessments. The present test includes data on 33 selected coastal water bodies in five countries: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Sweden. Data on reference condition, acceptable deviation, status and class boundaries of all indicators used in WFD for reporting ecological status (biological and physical-chemical) have been provided for each tested water body. The data has been inserted in the HEAT 1.0 and HEAT 3.0 tools and been compared with the national WFD assessments. Both HEAT versions gave lower status in more than 50 % of the cases. For some tests the status changed to sub-GES from GES when HEAT is applied. The good/moderate boundary is the same in both HEAT and the WFD while the lower class boundaries in general are stricter in HEAT, which explains the lower status. In national WFD assessments expert judgment is used when there is little, no or very uncertain in situ data. The status in HEAT is given by the one-out-all-out principle but it is still possible to include expert judgment through the weighting factors.

Development of an oxygen consumption indicator

t was investigated if the oxygen consumption can be used as an oxygen indicator for the Baltic Sea. The method is based on the idea of calculating the oxygen consumption in a stabile layer below the productive zone during summer and relating this to nutrient concentrations. With more nutrients available there is an increased biological production. By estimating how much oxygen is needed to mineralise the biological material it may be possible to link the oxygen consumption to eutrophication. The oxygen consumption was calculated for the BY15-Gotland Deep in the Eastern Gotland Basin. We identified a stabile layer between 30 and 50 m and a large change in both oxygen and nutrients from June to August. However, the oxygen consumption had a very high inter-annual variation and there were no significant correlation with the winter mean of nutrient concentrations. It was not possible to calculate the diffusion between the layers because of too sparse measurements at the stratification which limits the method. The calculation of the diffusion is however possible to improve with a model. Further on, the depth of the stabile layer is varying between areas and also between years. We realised that the method has too many restrictions to be a functional indicator. A functional indicator shall not be dependent on heavy modelling or demand too much on expert judgement.

We also investigated if a possible candidate to use as a more simple oxygen consumption indicator could be the use of oxygen saturation at a specific depth. If we assume that the temperature has not changed much since the establishment of stratification we may expect that changes in oxygen saturation observed in August at this depth would be caused by the biological oxygen consumption occurring during late spring and summer. The correlation with winter mean nutrients slightly improved in this case.

The Swedish OSPAR waters were assessed by applying the OSPAR Common Procedure for the time period 2006 – 2014. The Swedish parts of Skagerrak, Kattegat and the Sound constitute the outer part of the transition zone between the estuarine Baltic Sea and the oceanic North Sea and were investigated for nutrients, chlorophyll-a,oxygen, macrophytes, phytoplankton and zoobenthos. The conclusion from the overall assessment of the Swedish OSPAR waters was that only Skagerrak open sea could be classified as a Non-Problem Area and all other assessment units were classified as Problem Areas. Atmospheric input of nitrogen significantly decreased in both Skagerrak and Kattegat and the land based input of total nutrients also decreased in Skagerrak, Kattegat as well as the Sound. However, the short-term trend of nitrogen input to the Sound was positive. Skagerrak is governed by trans-boundary transports from the North Sea of mainly nitrogen but also phosphorus. Kattegat receives trans-boundary nutrients from both the Baltic Sea through the Sound and from Skagerrak and transports nutrients towards the coast and the western part of the basin. Overall, concentrations of DIN, DIP, TN and chlorophyll-a decreased in most areas, however, no significant trends were found for DIP. Increasing concentrations were found in silicate, POC and TP. The Secchi depth increased in most areas. Oxygen deficiency was mainly a problem in the fjords and the Kattegat open sea. In Skagerrak coastal waters winter nutrients were only elevated in the fjords. Concentrations of DIN generally decreased significantly and there were tendencies of decreasing DIP. This pattern was also supported by the total nitrogen while total phosphorus increased. Secchi depth was improving and there was a significant positive trend of increasing depths. However, zoobenthos were still in bad condition and phytoplankton indicator species were often elevated. Chlorophyll-a concentrations were generally decreasing but still elevated in the inner coastal waters. There were also problems with algal toxins such as DST (Diarrhetic Shellfish Toxin) and PST (Paralystic Shellfish Toxin) infections in the area. According to the OSPAR classification scheme, a unit with no evident increased nutrient enrichment can be classified as a Problem Area but the cause might be due to trans-boundary transport from adjacent areas. In the open area of Kattegat there were still problems with oxygen deficiency, especially in the southern parts, even though the trend was significantly positive for the assessment period 2006 – 2014. Concentrations of chlorophyll-a and DIN decreased significantly, however, DIN levels were still generally elevated, especially in the southern parts of Kattegat while DIP was closer to the assessment level. In Kattegat coastal waters winter nutrients were elevated in all assessment units, except from the inner coastal waters, even though there was a general pattern of decreasing going trends. Chlorophyll-a was mainly elevated in the Sound and the estuaries. Secchi depth is generally improving and a significant increase was seen in the Sound. Also in Kattegat, zoobenthos were in bad condition and phytoplankton indicator species were often elevated.

Results from the Swedish national marine monitoring in the pelagic during 2016 are presented. The institutes who conduct the national monitoring are SMHI (Swedish meteorological and hydrological institute), SU (Stockholm University) and UMF (Umeå marine sciences centre). The presented parameters in this report are; salinity, temperature, oxygen, dissolved inorganic phosphorous, total phosphorous, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, total nitrogen, dissolved silica, chlorophyll and phytoplankton. Secchi depth, zooplankton, humus, primary production, pH and alkalinity are also measured but not presented. Seasonal plots for surface waters are presented in Appendix I. Time series for surface waters (0-10 m) and bottom waters are presented in Appendix II. The amount of nutrients in the sub-basins of the Baltic Sea is presented per season and year in Appendix III.Exceptional events 2016

A warm September due to several high pressure systems, with temperatures more than one standard deviation above mean in almost all stations from Skagerrak, Kattegat and the Baltic Proper.

Low oxygen in Kattegat bottom water during autumn as can be seen in the seasonal plots for both Anholt E and Fladen.

Improved oxygen condition in the East Gotland Basin, due to an increased frequency of deep water inflows in comparison to the period 1983 until the large inflow in December 2014. The inflow of 30 km3 in the beginning of the year could be tracked in the deep water in the Eastern Gotland Basin in June.

Elevated levels of silicate have been observed in the Baltic Sea since 2014 and the silicate levels were also elevated this year but mainly in the central and the northern parts of the Baltic Proper.

In July there were high cell numbers of the dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuminata, which caused high levels of toxins in blue mussels. During this period it was forbidden to harvest blue mussels along the Bohus coast.

This report presents the main results of the Swedish national marine monitoring programme of thepelagic during 2018. The monitoring data of hydrography, nutrients and phytoplankton are analysedfor the seas surrounding Sweden: the Skagerrak, the Kattegat, the Sound, the Baltic Proper, theBothnian Sea and the Bothnian Bay.The national environmental monitoring of the pelagic is carried out by SMHI (SwedishMeteorological and Hydrological Institute), Stockholm University and UMF (Umeå Marine SciencesCentre). Data is collected, analysed and reported with support from Swedish environmentalmonitoring and on behalf of by SwAM (Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management). TheSMHI monitoring is made in cooperation between the national environmental monitoring of thepelagic and the SMHI oceanographic sampling programme for the seas surrounding Sweden and is cofinancedby SwAM and SMHI. This annual summary of the national monitoring is made by SMHI andis financed by the contract between SwAM and SMHI.The weather in 2018 was characterized by high air temperatures and a few storms that impliedconsequences for the state in the sea. The spring arrived quickly and the sea surface temperatureincreased rapidly from April to May. In August and September two storms, named Johanne and Knud,passed the region and the surface layer was well-mixed at several stations. At the East coast upwellingevents were noted in both the Baltic Proper and the Bothnian Sea.During the year there were two small deep water inflows to the Baltic Proper that temporarilyimproved the oxygen condition in the southern parts. No improvements of the oxygen condition wereseen in the Eastern and Western Gotland Basins, instead the amount of hydrogen sulphide increased inthese basins during the year.The spring bloom had arrived in the Skagerrak and the Kattegat in March and concentrations ofdissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) were close to or at thedetection limit from April to September. In the Skagerrak and the Kattegat the spring bloom wasdominated by the diatom Skeletonema marinoi. In the Baltic Proper the spring bloom was observed amonth later, in April. The extensive cyanobacteria bloom in the Baltic Proper started already in Mayand during the late September cruise cyanobacteria were still abundant. The dinoflagellateProrocentrum compressum was found in high cell numbers during the autumn at all stations on theWest coast. This flagellate has rarely been observed previously and although it is not harmful it isinteresting when species suddenly occur and stay for a longer period. The potentially harmful diatomgenus Pseudo-nitzschia bloomed in the beginning of December.Surface concentrations of DIP and DIN were mainly normal except from in the Skagerrak and theKattegat where concentrations were lower than usual in December. Concentrations of silicate wereabove normal levels before the spring bloom at most of the stations and in the Baltic Proper silicatewas also high in the autumn.In 2018 there were some difficulties with available research vessels for the planned cruises and somecruises needed to be cancelled with short notice. Many planned observations were therefore missed, inparticular during the summer period.

This report presents the main results of the Swedish national marine monitoring programme of the pelagic during 2017. The monitoring data of hydrography, nutrients and phytoplankton are analysed for the seas surrounding Sweden: Skagerrak, Kattegat, The Sound, Baltic Proper, Bothnian Sea and Bothnian Bay. The monitoring is carried out by SMHI (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute), SU (Stockholm University) and UMF (Umeå Marine Sciences Centre) and the monitoring programme is co-funded by SwAM (Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management), SMHI, SU and UMF. Data is collected, analysed and reported with support from Swedish environmental monitoring and commissioned by SwaM.

The Baltic current along the Swedish west coast implies large variations in surface salinity and the unusually large outflow of brackish water from the Baltic Sea in 2017 was reflected as low surface salinity in Skagerrak and Kattegat in the beginning of the year. There were no major deep water inflows to the Baltic Sea during 2017 but a few inflows of minor magnitude. These minor inflows only temporarily improved the oxygen condition in the Bornholm Basin and in the southern part of the Eastern Gotland Basin.

The salinity below the halocline was above normal in the Gotland Basins and in the Northern Baltic Proper, and also in the surface layer in the Eastern Gotland Basin for almost the whole year.

In Skagerrak and Kattegat, surface concentrations of phosphate and dissolved inorganic nitrogen were normal while dissolved silica concentrations were elevated especially in spring. In the Baltic Sea, the concentration of silicate in the surface water was elevated in all basins. According to the estimated total content of silicate there has been an increase in silica content in the Baltic Sea since the early 1990’s. Surface concentrations of phosphate were above normal in the Gotland basins and the Northern Baltic Proper while inorganic nitrogen content was above normal in parts of the Arkona and Bornholm basins. During spring and summer, the inorganic nitrogen was consumed at greater depths than usual in the Baltic Proper. In particular concentrations of phosphate and dissolved silica were generally lower than normal in the bottom layer.

Instead of diatoms, the flagellate genus Pseudochattonella, which is potentially toxic to fish, bloomed in the Kattegat and Skagerrak areas in February – April. During autumn there was a prolonged diatom bloom though. In the Baltic Sea spring bloom occurred in April. The cyanobacteria bloom began in May already with Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. During June and July all three of the filamentous cyanobacteria, A. flos-aquae, Dolichospermum lemmermannii and the potentially harmful Nodularia spumigena were found in the phytoplankton samples in various amounts.

In the Bothnian Sea, the sea surface temperature during summer was lower than normal and the oxygen conditions in the bottom layer was not critical but still below normal levels.

Commercial and small-scale farmers in South Africa are exposed to many challenges. Interviews with 44 farmers in the upper Thukela basin, KwaZulu-Natal, were conducted to identify common and specific challenges for the two groups and adaptive strategies for dealing with the effects of climate and other stressors. This work was conducted as part of a larger participatory project with local stakeholders to develop a local adaptation plan for coping with climate variability and change. Although many challenges related to exposure to climate variability and change, weak agricultural policies, limited governmental support, and theft were common to both farming communities, their adaptive capacities were vastly different. Small-scale farmers were more vulnerable due to difficulties to finance the high input costs of improved seed varieties and implements, limited access to knowledge and agricultural techniques for water and soil conservation and limited customs of long-term planning. In addition to temperature and drought-related challenges, small-scale farmers were concerned about soil erosion, water logging and livestock diseases, challenges for which the commercial farmers already had efficient adaptation strategies in place. The major obstacle hindering commercial farmers with future planning was the lack of clear directives from the government, for example, with regard to issuing of water licences and land reform. Enabling agricultural communities to procure sustainable livelihoods requires implementation of strategies that address the common and specific challenges and strengthen the adaptive capacity of both commercial and small-scale farmers. Identified ways forward include knowledge transfer within and across farming communities, clear governmental directives and targeted locally adapted finance programmes.

A historical database for use in rainfall-runoff modeling of the Okavango River Basin in Southwest Africa is presented. The work has relevance for similar data-sparse regions. The parameters of main concern are rainfall and catchment water balance, which are key variables for subsequent studies of the hydrological impacts of development and climate change. Rainfall estimates are based on a combination of in situ gauges and satellite sources. Rain gauge measurements are most extensive from 1955 to 1972, after which they are drastically reduced due to the Angolan civil war. The sensitivity of the rainfall fields to spatial interpolation techniques and the density of gauges were evaluated. Satellite based rainfall estimates for the basin are developed for the period from 1991 onwards, based on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) datasets. The consistency between the gauges and satellite estimates was considered. A methodology was developed to allow calibration of the rainfall-runoff hydrological model against rain gauge data from 1960 to 1972, with the prerequisite that the model should be driven by satellite derived rainfall products from ` 1990 onwards. With the rain gauge data, addition of a single rainfall station (Longa) in regions where stations earlier were lacking was more important than the chosen interpolation method. Comparison of satellite and gauge rainfall outside the basin indicated that the satellite overestimates rainfall by 20%. A non-linear correction was derived by fitting the rainfall frequency characteristics to those of the historical rainfall data. This satellite rainfall dataset was found satisfactory when using the Pitman rainfall-runoff model (Hughes, D., Andersson, L., Wilk, J., Savenije, H.H.G., this issue. Regional calibration of the Pitman model for the Okavango River. Journal of Hydrology). Intensive monitoring in the region is recommended to increase accuracy of the comprehensive satellite rainfall estimate calibration procedure. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this article is to analyse and describe the extreme characteristics of the water levels and illustrate them as the topography of the sea surface along the whole Baltic Sea coast. The general pattern is to show the maxima and minima of Baltic Sea water levels and the extent of their variations in the period from 1960 to 2010. A probability analysis is carried out on the annual sea level maxima and minima for 31 water level gauges in order to define the probability of occurrence of theoretical sea levels once in a specific number of years. The spatial distribution of sea levels for hundred-year maximum and minimum water levels is illustrated. Then, the number of storm surges for the accepted criteria are presented: these numbers increased in the 50-year period analysed. The final part of the work analyses some extreme storm events and calculates the static value and dynamic deformation of the sea surface by mesoscale, deep low-pressure systems.